FORM 10-K
? ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021
or
Changes in the method of determining the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”), or the replacement of LIBOR with an alternative reference rate, may adversely affect interest rates and financial markets as a whole.
On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, announced that it intends to phase out LIBOR by the end of 2021. On November 30, 2020, ICE Benchmark Administration (“IBA”), the administrator of LIBOR, with the support of the United States Federal Reserve and the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, announced plans to consult on ceasing publication of USD LIBOR on December 31, 2021 for only the one week and two month USD LIBOR tenors, and on June 30, 2023 for all other USD LIBOR tenors. While this announcement extends the transition period to June 2023, the United States Federal Reserve concurrently issued a statement advising banks to stop new USD LIBOR issuances by the end of 2021. In light of these recent announcements, the future of LIBOR at this time is uncertain and any changes in the methods by which LIBOR is determined or regulatory activity related to LIBOR’s phaseout could cause LIBOR to perform differently than in the past or cease to exist. As we renew or replace our debt facilities that currently incorporate LIBOR, we will need to work with our counterparties to incorporate alternative benchmarks. Since there is presently substantial uncertainty relating to the process and timeline for developing LIBOR alternatives, how widely any given alternative will be adopted by parties in the financial markets, and the extent to which alternative benchmarks may be subject to volatility or present risks and challenges that LIBOR does not, it is difficult to predict what effect, if any, the phase-out of LIBOR and the use of alternative benchmarks may have on our business or on the overall financial markets. In 2020, the Company ended originating LIBOR loans in advance of the GSEs and GNMA announcing they will no longer be purchasing these loans.
